Why should you read "The Handmaid's Tale"? - Naomi R. Mercer

譯者: Christina Wang 審譯者: Helen Chang

「視而不見不等於不知道， 你得費力氣才能視而不見。」

──瑪格麗特·愛特伍 《侍女的故事》

In Margaret Atwood's near-future novel, "The Handmaid's Tale,"

瑪格麗特·愛特伍在《侍女的故事》 小說中描述不遠的未來，

a Christian fundamentalist regime called the Republic of Gilead

有個基督教基本教義派政府 叫做吉列亞共和國，

has staged a military coup and established a theocratic government

藉由軍事政變在美國建立了 政教合一的政權。

in the United States.

The regime theoretically restricts everyone,

理論上這個政府束縛著所有人，

but in practice a few men have structured Gilead so they have all the power,

但實際上是一小部分男人 掌控所有吉列亞的權力結構，

especially over women.

特別是壓制女人的權力。

The Handmaid's Tale is what Atwood calls speculative fiction,

愛特伍稱《侍女的故事》 為「推想小說」，

meaning it theorizes about possible futures.

意思是它討論了可能的未來。

This is a fundamental characteristic

這是烏托邦和反烏托邦作品 共有的特徵。

shared by both utopian and dystopian texts.

The possible futures in Atwood's novels are usually negative, or dystopian,

通常愛特伍小說中的未來 是負面或「反烏托邦」的，

where the actions of a small group have destroyed society as we know it.

一小部分人的行為 摧毀了整個我們熟悉的社會。

Utopian and dystopian writing tends to parallel political trends.

烏托邦和反烏托邦作品 常反映著政治的趨勢。

Utopian writing frequently depicts an idealized society

烏托邦作品經常 描繪一個理想化的社會：

that the author puts forth as a blueprint to strive toward.

作者期望的、人們應努力的藍圖。

Dystopias, on the other hand,

另一方面，反烏托邦

are not necessarily predictions of apocalyptic futures,

不一定預測世界末日般的未來，

but rather warnings about the ways in which societies can set themselves

更多的是對現在社會

正走向滅亡的警示。

on the path to destruction.

The Handmaid's Tale was published in 1985, when many conservative groups

《侍女的故事》是 1985 年出版的，

當時很多保守團體 攻擊第二波女權運動的進展。

attacked the gains made by the second-wave feminist movement.

This movement had been advocating greater social and legal equality for women

這個運動早在 1960 年代就倡導著

給予更多女人在社會和法律上的平等。

since the early 1960s.

The Handmaid's Tale imagines a future in which the conservative

而在《侍女的故事》設想的未來中，

counter-movement gains the upper hand

保守運動的反擊佔了上風，

and not only demolishes the progress women had made toward equality,

不僅結束了性別平等的進展，

but makes women completely subservient to men.

而且使得女性完全屈服於男性。

Gilead divides women in the regime into distinct social classes

吉列亞政府把女性 劃分為不同的社會階層，

based upon their function as status symbols for men.

根據的是她們 作為男性地位標誌的職能，

Even their clothing is color-coded.

甚至連衣服的顏色也有規矩。

Women are no longer allowed to read

女性不再可以讀書

or move about freely in public,

或者在外自由的走動。

and fertile women are subject to state-engineered rape

可生育的女性則受到了 國家計畫的強姦，

in order to give birth to children for the regime.

為政府孕育新的人口。

Although The Handmaid's Tale is set in the future,

雖然《侍女的故事》設定在未來，

one of Atwood's self-imposed rules in writing it

愛特伍給自己設定一個規矩：

was that she wouldn't use any event

不寫任何一件

or practice that hadn't already happened in human history.

歷史上沒發生過的事情。

The book is set in Cambridge, Massachusetts,

本書設定在麻薩諸塞州的劍橋市，

a city that during the American colonial period

一個在美國殖民時期

had been ruled by the theocratic Puritans.

被政教合一的清教徒統治的城市。

In many ways, the Republic of Gilead resembles the strict rules

而吉列亞和清教徒社會

that were present in Puritan society:

有很多相似之處：

rigid moral codes,

嚴格的道德準則、

modest clothing,

簡單的衣物、

banishment of dissenters,

放逐任何有異議的人，

and regulation of every aspect of people's lives and relationships.

以及全面掌控個人生活和人際關係。

For Atwood, the parallels to Massachusett's Puritans

對於愛特伍而言， 麻州清教徒和本書的聯繫

were personal as well as theoretical.

理論和個人成分並具。

She spent several years studying the Puritans at Harvard

她曾花了幾年 在哈佛大學研究清教徒，

and she's possibly descended from Mary Webster,

而且 Mary Webster 可能是她的祖先，

a Puritan woman accused of witchcraft who survived her hanging.

一個被指控施行巫術， 受絞刑未死的清教徒女子。

Atwood is a master storyteller.

愛特伍是個講故事的高手。

The details of Gilead, which we've only skimmed the surface of,

我們只在表面上掠過吉列亞的細節，

slowly come into focus through the eyes of its characters,

通過書中人物的眼睛慢慢聚焦，

mainly the novel's protagonist Offred,

主要通過小說的主角奧芙瑞，

a handmaid in the household of a commander.

一個司令官的侍女。

Before the coup that established Gilead,

在政變和建立吉列亞之前，

Offred had a husband, a child, a job, and a normal, middle-class American life.

奧芙瑞有丈夫、孩子、工作， 過著平凡、中產階級美國人的生活。

But when the fundamentalist regime comes into power,

但隨著基本教義吉列亞政府的建立，

Offred is denied her identity,

奧芙瑞的身份被剝奪，

separated from her family,

被迫與家人拆散，

and reduced to being, in Offred's words,

用奧芙瑞的話來說， 她存在的意義只剩下

"a two-legged womb for increasing Gilead's waning population."

「能為人口衰退的吉列亞 增加人口的兩腿子宮。」

She initially accepts the loss of her fundamental human rights

她最初以穩定新政府的名義

in the name of stabilizing the new government.

接受了她基本人權的喪失。

But state control soon extends into attempts to control the language,

但國家的控制很快就擴張到

試圖控制所有人的語言、

behavior,

行為，甚至思想。

and thoughts of herself and other individuals.

Early on, Offred says,

起先，奧芙瑞說：

"I wait. I compose myself.

「我在等。我在安定自己。

My self is a thing I must compose, as one composes a speech."

我需要安定我自己， 就像撰寫一篇演說。」

She likens language to the formulation of identity.

她把語言比作成身份的形成。

Her words also acknowledge the possibility of resistance,

她的話也承認了反抗的可能性，

and it's resistance, the actions of people who dare to break the political,

而來自敢於打破政治、思想、

和性別法則的人們的反抗，

intellectual,

and sexual rules,

that drives the plot of the Handmaid's Tale.

驅動了《侍女的故事》的情節。

Ultimately, the novel's exploration of the consequences of complacency,

到頭來，本書探索 逆來順受和濫用權力的後果，

and how power can be wielded unfairly,

和權力如何被不公平地運用，

makes Atwood's chilling vision of a dystopian regime ever relevant.

讓愛特伍令人寒心的反烏托邦預知 有了如此實質性的意義。

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